“But it isn't that I'm just Pat. I'm both Pat and the person who knows that being Pat is itself a sign of my sickness. I never totally lose sight of that difference, though the degree to which I'm aware I've regressed varies, and there are times when I don't know a life outside of Pat's child world. (103)”

“Thought I appear unaware of my surroundings, I hear her words. They're cruel and hurt me deeply...I know the state I'm in, but I also know that I didn't bring it on myself and I can't get out of it. (103)”

“Marie is a person whose life experiences, though different from most, have never robbed her of her humanity. At the very depth of her psychosis, she could touch her own wish for sanity even though this touch required every bit of her will to live. From a curled-up position of catatonic silence on her hospital bed, she could still see herself: 'I looked at myself and said, 'No more. I can't go on this way anymore...if I ever want to get out of here, if I ever want to get better" (xiii)”

“When Pat asked me the life, he didn't mean just that I should travel and have fun, although that was certainly part of it. He also meant that there's a weight to all of our lives, and he didn't want me to be frivolous with mine. If was a tragedy that Pat's life - while fully lived - was cut short. But it's also a tragedy to live a long life that isn't meaningful.”

“Now, as I look back on my life, I can honestly say I wouldn't change it. The pain and suffering have brought me psychological understanding and spiritual strength. I still feel the pain when I reflect on those experiences, but while once they would throw me deeper and deeper into anxious despair, now they feed my desire to keep growing. (3)”

“I've learned that health and healing come more from love and respect, for oneself and others, than from any specific therapeutic technique. The potential for self-healing and healing from within, both for individuals and communities, is a resource too often overlooked. (xiii)”

“Marie refuses to describe herself as "cured." She feels such a label ignores the process of getting and staying healthy. 'When I was released from Sutton State Hospital, I didn't come out 'well.' It was a process of getting well. In my first years out, I would sometimes have to sit rigidly by the door, stuck in my anxiety, disconnected from my feelings. I still had to learn that I couldn't demand love and attention - I have to learn to exchange feelings.' (xiii)”